The Science of Shiga Toxin-Producing (Verotoxin-Producing) Escherichia coli (STEC): An Ongoing One Health Journey toward Improved Health and Food Safety

Dear Colleagues,

Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), also called Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), are major pathogens transmitted by food, water, animals and their environment, and directly from one person to another. They typically cause diarrheal illness but can also cause severe systemic disease, particularly in children and the elderly. Virulence is associated with a type III secretion system, which enables injection of bacterial effector proteins into host cells. In addition, Shiga toxins damage the kidneys and cause the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). No specific treatment is available for STEC infection. A better understanding of the pathogenesis and epidemiology of STEC infection is needed with an emphasis on One Health-approach solutions to the disease. This includes improved detection, understanding of reservoirs, control and detection in the food chain, and an understanding of STEC ecology.  For this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit a review or original research article related to STEC detection, pathogenesis, epidemiology, ecology, or food safety that reflects the scientific community’s continued efforts to prevent and ameliorate STEC infections.

This Special Issue will contain papers related to STEC/VTEC research and will accompany the online meetings of VTEC 2022 (https://vtec2021.org/may-11-2021/). The in-person meeting of VTEC 2021 that was to be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, has been rescheduled to May 2023 due to COVD-19. This online meeting will serve as a momentum-building event while we work towards meeting in person again soon.

Prof. Dr. Tim A. McAllister
Dr. Kim Stanford
Prof. Dr. Linda Chui
Dr. Chad R. Laing
Dr. Nicole Van De Kar
Dr. Flemming Scheutz
Dr. Patricia Griffin
Dr. Gillian Tarr
Guest Editors

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